DENVER -- Denver city council voted in October to cap delivery fees from third-party sites like GrubHub and DoorDash at 15%. But if you’ve ordered from DoorDash recently in Denver, you may have come across a new fee, an additional “Denver Fee.”
After indoor dining was no longer an option in Denver, the Denver Biscuit Company has been fighting to stay afloat.
"Right now we are living on to-go [orders] and there’s no such thing as living on to-go, but limping on to-go. It works to keep us going, but we laid off more than 200 people in the last 10 days and that’s going into the holidays," said Director of Operations Nate Lotz.
But now, DoorDash is charging customers in Denver a $2 "Denver Fee". They say it addresses the capped fees that they’re experiencing. In order to continue offering convenient delivery, you’ll now see an extra charge.
"To know that it’s just been pushed on to our guests, it seems to have subverted the whole intention of the law," said Lotz.
Councilwoman Kendra Black says DoorDash isn’t doing anything illegal with this but the ethics are questionable.
"I think that they’re trying to make the city look bad. They’re valued at between $24 billion and $32 billion, and for them to kind of nickle-and-dime customers and restaurants at this time, I just don’t think that’s very generous of them," said Black.
The owner of Stack Subs, Rick Koerner, says this move could see them lose customers but wanting to avoid the extra fee. But at the same time, he says it’s the consumer’s choice.
